The patent is directed to a multi-player game, and more particularly to a multi-player game having a plurality of dice, a plurality of game cards, and an electronic instruction unit providing game instructions to the players and functioning as a timer during the course of gameplay.
Various games having dice and playing cards associated therewith have been previously described. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,000 to Nakano et al. discloses a combined dice and card game utilizing three conventional six-sided dice and a twenty-four card deck formed by removing all cards other than ace, two, three, four, five, and six of a conventional four-suit fifty-two playing card deck. In a preferred embodiment, one of a plurality of players is selected as the banker and posts a fixed sum of money or chips as a bank. The remaining players place bets against the bank. Each player and the banker then receive three cards dealt from the ace through six stripped playing card deck, and subsequently discard one card, leaving each player and the banker with two cards, ranging from ace through six. The banker, and subsequently the players, then roll the dice and attempt to roll an automatically winning dice combination or to establish a winning point, while attempting to avoid rolling an automatically losing dice combination. The banker and the players may, upon obtaining certain predetermined card and dice combinations, utilize their cards to improve or increase a rolled dice point.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,236,719 to Kerr discloses a game involving the spelling of words, and played competitively by two to four participants. The game is comprised of a series of elongated word cards having a word printed on one face thereof, multi-apertured holders adapted to accommodate several of said word cards, elongated blank cards adapted to cover said word cards, a multitude of flat elongated shutters adapted to be vertically positioned to separately occlude individual apertures of said holders, a first series of playing pieces serving to expedite the playing of the game, a second series of playing pieces which facilitate scorekeeping, and a number-selecting means such as a pair of dice.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,779 to Merritt discloses a mathematical card and dice game comprising a deck of cards, a set of three dice, and a timing device. The deck of cards is divided into four suits of fifteen cards each, ten of which are numbered one through ten, the remaining five non-numeric cards having letters which can take on any value as defined by the players prior to the game. A predetermined number of cards are dealt to players who use the values of the three dice rolled, common mathematical operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, and their knowledge of math to make mathematical relationships that equate to the value of cards in their hands within a predetermined amount of time as tracked by a timing device. A successful match occurs when the card value equals the numeric result of a mathematical operation involving all three dice. Players place successful matching cards face down until the end of the round, when the time limit is up, wherein they turn the cards over and must be able to successfully explain the relationship the card value has to the dice values. Players take turns rolling the dice and starting the timer between rounds. The first player to discard all their cards is the winner. Penalty cards are assessed when players cannot correctly explain the relationship the card has to the dice or when they cannot discard any card during a round.